The Unnamed Story
by Athena Brody
Summary: A muggle born witch adventures into the wizarding world
1. Default Chapter

The Unnamed Story

Chapter One

     It was a hot summer day in June. Tiff Brody sat on the dirty cement outside her parent's apartment. She was a bit short for her age, with long, light brown hair. She had soft blue eyes and she wore what looked like vintage clothes from the sixties. People streamed by. She just sat and thought about her life. She had always been considered an outcast. Her parents were poor and considered hippies by many people. She didn't ever mind. She liked being different. But still, she wished that she would fit in sometimes. 

     She walked inside the apartment building and took the elevator to the fourth floor. She casually strode into the apartment where she lived. Her mum was busy typing furiously on a typewriter, while her dad meditated in the corner. He looked up. "Hey Tiff," he said cheerfully. She nodded in response. "When's dinner?" she asked her mum. "Soon," she mumbled as she continued writing. She slept in a closet, as there wasn't much room in the small apartment. She walked in and sat on her mattress as she turned on the small lava lamp in the corner. 

     After about an hour her mum called from the kitchen, "Come on out of there, Tiff! It's time for dinner!" Tiff joined her family in the kitchen. For some reason she wasn't feeling particularly happy today. Her mum put a hamburger in front of her, but Tiff wasn't hungry. She just stared gloomily at the food. "Is something wro-" her mother began, but soon stopped as a huge black owl swooped through the open window. Tiff screamed. Her mother stared at it, white faced, while her father looked shocked enough to kill it. It extended it's left leg. Tiff noticed a yellowish envelope attached to the leg. She snatched it. She ripped it open and started to read.

Dear Miss Brody,

     We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Attached is a list of school supplies. Two wizards will be coming to assist you in getting to the school and Diagon Alley.

     Tiff looked away from the letter and laughed. "Yeah right!" she said through giggling, "This is a pretty funny joke. Like I'm a witch or something!" She was now laughing so hard tears were coming out of her eyes. "Witches aren't real! Everyone knows that!" Her mum snatched the letter from her. Both her parents read it together. Their eyes widened. "What does this mean, Judy?" muttered her dad under his breath. "I don't know, Bill… Could someone be spying on us?" He shook his head. Tiff stopped laughing and stared at them in surprise. "It-it's not _real_, is it?" she asked, wiping away her tears. The family's puzzled thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang. Again, Tiff screamed. Two rather dirty looking women were standing in her living room dusting themselves off. 

     "Hello, dear!" exclaimed the shorter one excitedly, "I'm Ronda and this is Allegra," she said, pointing at her friend. 

"Who are you?" demanded her father, in a scared tone. 

"Well we're the wizards that the letter told you about!" said Allegra, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Tiff clutched the letter to her chest, her eyes wide with shock. 

"It's real?" she asked, gaping. 

"Well of course!" said Ronda, then she turned to Allegra and said with a grin, "I always forget how naïve these muggles can be." 

     "What did you call me?" she asked, still shocked and even a bit angry.

 "A muggle," Allegra replied, "It's what us wizards call non-magic folk. You're muggleborn." Her parents still looked disbelieving as they sat down on the couch to watch the conversation. 

          The witches told her about Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. She learned so much in just a half hour. Her anger and disbelief had died down and was now replaced with happiness and excitement. She had begged the two witches for more information, but they said they had to go. They promised to take her to Diagon Alley the next day, where she could get new books about the wizarding world. That night she went to bed early so she could get up early the next day. She would finally have a place she belonged. She wouldn't be alone anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

The Unnamed Story

Chapter Two

     Tiff woke up at six the next morning, combed her long hair, then pulled on an old t-shirt and jeans. She then sat on the couch in the living room waiting for her parents to wake up. She was amazed at how patient she was being, as she was very excited. When her parents woke up at around nine she begged them for breakfast so she could go. They made her some eggs, which she ate in a flash, and then she sat down on the couch again and waited some more. At around ten thirty Ronda and Allegra popped into the living room. 

     She leapt up from her seat. "Hello Tiff," Ronda said happily. 

"Hi!" she replied, "Can we go now?" she added impatiently. The witches smiled. "Sure, dear," said Allegra. She said goodbye to her parents and raced out the door with Allegra and Ronda trying to chase after her. She led them to the elevators. Tiff's neighbors were surprised when Ronda questioned Tiff about what "these elyvackers" did before Allegra shushed her and they got on. 

     The muggles stared at Allegra and Ronda's feeble attempt at dressing "muggle". They were wearing purple tank tops, which looked dreadful considering their ages. Ronda was wearing a pair of swimming trunk for her bottoms, and though it looked strange, it was nothing compared to what Allegra had chosen.

     "Look at that lady!" whispered a muggle child to her mother, who was glaring at the three witches, "She's wearing a Speedo swimsuit instead of pants!" Allegra smiled and waved at the puzzled mother and her excited daughter. Tiff pulled her hand down. 

     "This is where we catch the scumway!" exclaimed Ronda loudly as they approached the dreary subway station. "It's subway," whispered Tiff. Ronda nodded in response. When they got out of the train station they were right in the heart of London. Allegra led Tiff and Ronda to the Leaky Cauldron, a bar only wizards could see. When they got inside, Ronda ordered some butterbeer for the three of them and they sat down talking. After they had finished the hot, foaming drinks, Ronda and Allegra started towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. "Wait a minute!" exclaimed Ronda right before they set foot in the crowded streets, "We've got to put on our robes! We can't go into the world looking like fools!" cried Ronda, pulling a yellow dress robe over her head. While Allegra also pulled her's on, Tiff had a fit of silent giggles. 

     Diagon Alley was magnificent to a wizard, but to a muggleborn wizard it was the most amazing thing ever. The small street was crammed with witches and wizards, while the shops contained amazing items like flying broomsticks and cauldrons. "Now," said Ronda, pulling fistfuls of muggle money from her purse. "Where'd I get all that?" asked Tiff, shocked. "I can't tell you," said Ronda, teasingly, almost like a child. They walked to the wizard bank, gringrotts and exchanged the muggle money for gold galleons, which were large coins wizards used to buy things. She was walking past the broomstick shop when she saw four boys, and a girl peering into the window of the store. 

"Can I please get it, dad? Please?" begged the girl, "It's a Firebird 3000! If I had that I'd get on the quidditch team even if I stunk!" The girl's father shook his head. "It's much too expensive," he said gruffly, "If you make the team I'll buy you a nimbus." 

"I WON'T MAKE THE TEAM ON A MOONTRIMMER!" the girl roared. Tiff laughed to herself. That girl was doing exactly what she would do if she couldn't get something she wanted very badly. 

     "You get your wand while we get you some robes," Ronda told Tiff. Tiff nervously walked down the street and into the small, dark shop. The walls were covered in boxes. It didn't look like anyone was in the room. She sat on a chair, prepared to wait. 

     "Hello…" said a creepy voice. Tiff jumped in her seat. 

"W-w-who said that?" she stuttered. A man appeared as if from out of the shadows. "I am Mr. Ollivander, maker of fine wands since 382 BC." She stared at him in shock. She didn't like this man. "Now," he began, ignoring her scared expression, "I suppose you need a wand." 

     "Y-y-yes, sir," she said. The man swept around, so his long black cloak whipped Tiff in the face. "Try this one," he said, pulling a wand out of a box, which he threw on the ground. "Laurel wood, 7 in., with a powerful core of one fairy wing. Bendy." He handed the wand delicately to her. "Give it a swish," he urged. She swished the wand around, feeling stupid. "No…" he mumbled to himself, "That's certainly not the one." He snatched it from her and grabbed another off the shelf. "Here!" he said, handing it to her, "Reed wood, 10 inches, with a pinch of crushed Labradorite and raven feather! Good for cursing." She took the wand, held it above her head, but he snatched it away. "Not right!" he exclaimed. He went to the back of the store and grabbed another one. "Try this," he said exasperatedly, "Oak, 11 inches, with a single unicorn hair string for the core." She snatched the wand and gave it a wave. Red and gold sparks flew from the tip. "I did it!" she yelled excitedly. "Interesting," he muttered, "That same unicorn's tail string was used in another girl's wand. Another Brody…" he said, then trailed off. "What?" Tiff demanded. "Nothing," he murmured. So then, wand in hand, she trotted out of the store. 

      She met Ronda and Allegra, holding up three pairs of robes, a winter cloak, and a black hat. She pulled on her robes and the continued walking down the street. With her wand in her hand and her robes on she felt like a real wizard. Next was the bookstore. This was what Tiff had really been looking forward to. She darted into the store and wandered throughout it. She flipped through a few books, before something caught her eye. In the back of the store was a section called, "Quidditch Books" and under it was a young man flying on a broomstick. The picture moved. So did the rest of the pictures in the shop. A girl, who looked about her age, was sprawled on the floor reading a book. The girl had dark brown hair, almost black, with red and blonde streaks in it. Her eyes were bright blue, but switched to green occasionally. Tiff approached her. "Hi," she said uncertainly to the girl. "Hey," said the girl, looking up from her book, "I'm Keety."

"I'm Tiff," she said, and then added, "Whatcha reading?" 

"Quidditch Through the Ages. You play the sport? I'd like to be a chaser one day," 

"Erm… I'm a muggleborn. What's quidditch?" the girl laughed. 

"Oh! Well, it's a sport. I suppose you'll learn about it at Hogwarts." 

"Well, thanks!" said Tiff, "Bye!" 

"Bye!" 

     Tiff wandered towards the schoolbook section where Ronda and Allegra were busily grabbing books off the shelf. Not just the assigned books, but books like, A Muggle's Guide to the Wizarding World, and Hogwarts- a History. "Hi!" she said as she saw them. "Hi!" said Ronda and Allegra in unison as they stuffed the books into her trunk (which they levitated down the street. Her clothes were in there too). "It's about time to go now," said Allegra, stuffing the last of the books into the trunk. 

     After the day was almost over and all the things were bought Allegra and Ronda took Tiff to a pet store where she bought a small brown owl. Then they headed home on the subway (or the "scumway" as Ronda continued to call it). They received many strange looks. Even in the heart of London you didn't normally see two women dressed in swimsuit bottoms and purple tank tops along with a girl carrying an owl and a large trunk. When they got back to the apartment they apparated, leaving Tiff to tell her parents everything about her wonderful day.


	3. Chapter 3

The Unnamed Story

Chapter Three

     It was a day before term started. Tiff was extremely excited. She would dance around the house in her robes, hat and cloak while her owl, whom she had named Marc, hooted excitedly. Once, the neighbors from downstairs had angrily yelled at them and told Tiff how stupid it was to wear a Halloween costume in August. She quieted down after that, but didn't stop being insanely excited. She studied some spells in her books, which calmed her down. She amazed her parents by performing the simple spell, lumos, and making light come out of the tip of her wand. She swelled with pride as they told her she'd be top of the class at Hogwarts. 

     When the day finally arrived she was shaking with excitement. Allegra and Ronda apparated into her family's apartment at eight in the morning. Tiff was dressed and ready to go. Marc hooted happily in his cage, while she lugged her trunk down the hall to the elevator. She received more strange looks from the muggles, but Allegra and Ronda hadn't dressed in their absurd outfits that day, so they received less.  They were wearing dress robes.

     It took almost two hours to get to Kings Cross Station where she would catch the train. She raced out of the car the moment they got there. Her parents stood next to Ronda and Allegra nervously looking at the ticket. "Ronda! Allegra! This says platform 9 ¾! That doesn't exist!" 

"Oh yes it does!" exclaimed Ronda. And she ran into the barrier and disappeared. "Now go with your mum," said Allegra. "Just run!" 

     Her mother helped her push the cart into the platform- and bam! They were in Platform 9 ¾! A large scarlet steam engine was billowing out smoke before them. Seconds later Allegra and Tiff's father came through the barrier. The train looked on the verge of leaving. Tiff quickly hugged her parents. "I'll miss you guys!" she exclaimed. Then, she lugged her trunk onto the train with help from Allegra. She opened a compartment in the front where two girls were talking. One of them had long blonde hair and the other one she recognized from the broom shop! The girl had jet-black hair and huge glasses that made her eyes seem twice their normal size. "Hi!" she said, waving. 

"Hi," replied Tiff, "Can I sit here?"

"Sure!" said the girl, "What's your name?"

"Tiff,"

"Oh! I'm Athena, Athena Brody." 

     Tiff gasped. "I'm Tiff Brody!" 

"We can't be related- can we?" said the girl uncertainly.    
"Erm… Well I'm muggle born. Are you?" 

"Nope!" said the girl proudly, "I'm a pure blood!" They both laughed nervously. Tiff sat down across from Athena. "Oh, by the way, this is Hestia," Athena told Tiff, pointing at the blonde girl. "Hi!" she said. They sat and talked for a while when two other girls came in. One of them was Keety, the girl she had met at Flourish and Blotts. The other had blonde hair and hazel eyes. "Hi Tiff!" said Keety, "This is Tawny," The girl waved. "Can we sit here?" asked Keety. 

"Sure!" said Hestia. Tawny and Keety sat down on one of the soft bench seats. With all five of us in the compartment we were very squashed. Soon a lady pushing a cart came by. "Anything from the cart, girls?" she asked us. Athena jumped up. "I'll take fifty of everything!" she exclaimed, "Plus a gallon of pumpkin juice!" The woman dumped the candy on the table, handed us cups and a large container of pumpkin juice. "Dig in!" said Athena. Tiff reached for a chocolate frog, which she ate. It was delicious. "Oooh!" exclaimed Athena, noticing the card, "Can I have that? My sister collects them," Tiff handed her the card. "So…" began Hestia, "What house do you think we're all going to be in?"

     "Well, Hestia's my sister, so we'll probably be in the same house," said Tawny. 

"Really?" asked Athena.

"Yeah… We're sisters."

"But anyway," said Tawny, "I think I'll be a Gryfindor- or maybe a Hufflepuff. 

"For me, either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff," said Hestia. 

Athena smiled. "I know I'll be a Ravenclaw. My whole family's been in that house." 

"Cool!" said Tiff, "I think I'll be in Ravenclaw or Slyther-" she began, but was cut off. 

"You'll never be a Slytherin. You're a muggleborn. They don't go there. People would bully them terribly," said Keety. 

"Oh…" said Tiff, "I suppose I'll be in Ravenclaw then." 

"Well you can cross your fingers and hope for the best- all of you," said a girl in the doorway. She looked about seventeen with short blonde hair, blue eyes and freckles. "I'm Audrey Jane Kingsley. Call me A.J. though. I'm a Hogwarts head girl and I'm in Ravenclaw. I was just checkin' in on you. Bye!" she said as she left. 

"Well, back to our regularly scheduled conversation!" said Tiff, imitating a muggle television host. None of them got the humor. 

"Erm… Yeah. What you said," said Athena. 

"I'll probably be in Ravenclaw along with you Athena," said Keety, "That's where my parents were." Athena nodded. 

          After about five hours the train came to an abrupt halt and the excited first years raced off towards a huge man who was calling them. Their seven-year adventure had just begun.


	4. Chapter 4

The Unnamed Story

Chapter. 4

     The giant man, whose name was Hagrid, took them to a colossal lake, where they got on boats. Tiff rode across the lake with Athena, Keety and Hestia. Tiff and Athena sat in the front of the boat while Keety and Hestia rowed. While Tiff was looking at the water she heard Athena scream, "LOOK!" Her head shot up. Before her was a magnificent castle. Keety and Hestia, who had stopped rowing to look, looked thoroughly amazed. They all stared in wonder. "Hogwarts School…" muttered Hestia, "Sure is amazing, huh?" Athena nodded. 

"Now lets get there, women! Row! Row like the wind!" she yelled. The four of them laughed and continued rowing.

     When they finally reached land Hagrid led them inside the castle. A firm looking woman stood before them. 

"Firs' Years- Professor McGonagall, Professor McGonagall- Firs' Years," said Hagrid. Professor McGonagall shushed them and began a long speech about how your house is your family at Hogwarts and every house is important. They walked into the Great Hall. It was beautiful! The ceiling was bewitched to show the sky, which was a lovely velvet blue. She was feeling very nervous. What if she didn't get in a house at all! 

     Professor McGonagall placed a battered old hat on a stool. It ripped open and recited a poem. Then the students at their tables, which looked more like a sea of black hats, burst into applause. Then the real nerve racking began. 

     "Aurboda, Raquel!" yelled Professor McGonagall. A girl with light brown hair and blue eyes trotted bravely to the hat. She threw it over her head. It did nothing for about a minute, but suddenly it shouted out, "GRYFINDOR!" Raquel ran over to the Gryfindor table to join the older students. "Brody, Tiff!" yelled the professor. She nervously walked to the stool and put on the hat. It took less then ten seconds for it to yell, "RAVENCLAW!" she ran happily to the Ravenclaw table. She never remembered being so happy. Athena was next. The hat had barely touched her head before it shouted out, "RAVENCLAW!" 

     They watched a long line of students become sorted. Ophelia Kokafones and Aislin Knight joined them in Ravenclaw. Soon after Keety also came. Toward the end of the ceremony Hestia went to Hufflepuff while Tawny went to Gryfindor. Then Anthony Van Seschek went to Gryfindor as well and the sorting ended with a huge amount of applause. Tiff could have sworn she saw A.J. smile at her and give her a wink. 

     The Headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore, stood up and gave another speech. Then he snapped his fingers and the food appeared before them. The food was delicious and Tiff had a bit of everything.

     "Hi!" said a girl with dark brown, straight hair and green eyes, "I'm Aislin Knight. Nice ta meetcha!" 

"Hi!" said Tiff, "That's Athena and that's Keety. I'm Tiff." Keety and Athena waved. Aislin smiled. "Oh… And by the way," she said pulling another girl towards her, "This is Phe," Phe blushed. She had short brown hair, and was rather short herself. "Hi," she said shyly. "Hi!" exclaimed Athena, who wasn't the least bit shy. Soon she was deep in conversation with Phe about flying horses and which kind they wanted to have when they grew up. Aislin was soon talking freely to them too. 

          After the delicious feast, Ella Dowling, a Ravenclaw prefect, led them to the Ravenclaw common room. "The password is boomslang," she told them as they walked into the room. It was a royal blue room with soft couches and armchairs next to a blazing fire. The ceiling was a light blue with moving illustrations of eagles flying. The common room had a welcoming feeling to it. The first year boys went with a boy prefect to their dormitory while Tiff, Athena, Phe, Aislin and Keety walked up the stairs following Ella. She took them up a spiral staircase. On the first level of the staircase was their room. The seventh years were at the top of the staircase. They walked into the dorm room. It was a royal blue color with the Ravenclaw crest on the wall. The ceiling, very much like the common room had moving eagles. There were five four-poster beds. At the foot of Tiff's was her trunk. Ella Dowling informed them that their owls were in the owlery and they could visit as often as they wanted. Tiff climbed into her four-poster bed and slowly drifted off to sleep. four-poster bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The Unnamed Story

Chapter Five

     Tiff woke up at six the next morning just as Athena was waking. They pulled on some muggle clothes and went to get their uniforms. When they came back Keety, Aislin and Phe were stirring. They pulled on their uniforms and robes. Tiff felt like one of the crowd as they walked down to the common room where the older students were sitting together chatting. All five of them followed some third years to the Great Hall to avoid getting lost, and they sat together and helped themselves to breakfast. The sky was a whitish grey with some blue poking through. A.J. was busily handing out schedules. When Tiff finally got her's, she studied it closely.

Monday: 

**8:30- Charms (With Gryfindor)**

**9:30- Defense Against the Dark Arts (With Slytherin)**

**11:00- Transfiguration (With Hufflepuff)**

**12:00- Lunch Break**

**1:00- Potions (With Slytherin)**

**2:00- History Of Magic (Just Ravenclaw)**

     She stopped reading after she got through Monday. "This seems so fun!" she exclaimed. She grabbed some sausages and toast and began to eat. 

"I hear the charms teacher is fantastic! Lucky thing it's our first class," said Aislin, fiddling with her "First Year" badge. After breakfast they wandered the halls trying to find the Charms class. They bumped into Tawny, who was staring into a map. "Hey Tawny!" said Tiff. Tawny shoved the map in her pocket. 

     "Hey guys!" she exclaimed, "Hey, listen. Filch is coming. Let's get out of here before he strikes. I'm pretty sure the class is on this floor somewhere." They ran around searching for a moment before they found it. They sat down in a group towards the front.     Once the whole class had assembled, Professor Flitwick went to the front of the class. "Hello!" he said enthusiastically, "I am Professor Flitwick, your charms teacher. Today we'll be working on some simple wand movements. You must know those before you do your charms." He went on about the swish and flick technique. If any other teacher had been teaching this it would have been painfully boring, but Flitwick managed to get enthusiasm from everyone. Athena seemed very excited. She did the wand movements along with him.

     By the end of the class it seemed Athena knew every wand movement by heart. Their homework was to practice the movements. Athena did them in the hall as they walked to their next class- Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Filch can get mad about spells," said Athena in the middle of her swish and flick practice, "But he can't get mad about wand technique!" She then laughed. 

     When they walked into the class some of the Slytherins were already assembled. Tiff had forgotten they were having class with the Slytherins. She sat in the front of the class next to Keety. On her other side was a girl with long brown hair and strangely enough- mismatched eyes! One was blue and the other was brown. She smiled warmly at Tiff. 

     "Hey," she whispered, "I'm Trixcy," Tiff grinned.

"I'm Tiff," she whispered back. The teacher smiled at the class. He was a tall man with crazy jet-black hair that didn't seem to cooperate. He also had glasses. He strangely resembled Athena as well. Under his untidy hair on his forehead, barely visible, was a lightning bolt scar. Their teacher was Harry Potter.

     "Hello, class," he said, smiling, "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am Professor Potter. Today we will be learning about grindylows." He went on about the nature of the grindylow and what it did. He told them that they would be having a test on the creatures in a week or so. Apparently there was a lot more to know about the strange water demon then Tiff would have imagined and she was kept busy the whole time busily taking notes. When the class finally ended he assigned a paragraph about grindylows.  

     They then left and struggled to find the Transfiguration classroom. When they finally got there the Hufflepuffs and first year Ravenclaws who were boys were already assembled. "Hello," said a firm looking woman Tiff recognized as Professor McGonagall, "I am Professor McGonagall. Before we begin I would like to say one thing. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." They began the class, struggling to turn a match into a needle. Hestia came over to sit with them. 

     "What class do you have after lunch?" she asked. Athena glanced over at her in a bored fashion. She had already turned her match into a needle about five times. She did it on her first try. "We have potions," said Tiff, reading the schedule, 

"Potions with the Slytherins." Hestia shuddered. "You are so lucky so lucky that your in Ravenclaw. The teacher there and the students hate Gryfindors because they're enemies with Slytherin, and they don't like us Hufflepuffs either. They think we're a bunch of sissies. But Ravenclaw- the Slytherins figure it's the only house good enough to even compete with them and Snape doesn't mind them as long as they don't answer his questions before the Slytherins do." Tiff nodded. Athena successfully changed her match into a needle for the umpteenth time. 

     Class ended and Professor McGonagall assigned lots of homework. Everyone except Athena had to practice the spell, and they all had to write an essay on its creation. Athena seemed to be the only one _excited _to write the long paper. 

     Tiff, Athena, Phe and Keety went down to the Great Hall for lunch. Aislin went to the library to start her paper, though. After devouring a bagel, Tiff went out to the grounds. Some older students were playing quidditch. Keety, Phe and Athena went up to the common room, so she watched the strange sport alone. Her friends came back moments later carrying brooms. She laid her cloak on the ground and sat down. She was too nervous to fly with all of the experienced players, as she had never even mounted a broom in her life, but she watched with great interest. A Slytherin boy came running across the huge field. 

     "Hey 'Thena!" he yelled, "Catch this!" He released a golden ball with wings. Athena grinned and chased after it. 

"Hi," he said to Tiff, "Do you know Athena?" She nodded, "I live next door to her at our houses." 

"Oh… I'm her friend at school," 

He smiled. "Can I sit here?" he asked, pointing to the cloak.

"Sure!" she said, scooting over "What year are you?"

"Third. My name is Chris Resknick," They kept chatting. Soon Athena caught the snitch and soared down. 

"I see you've met Chris," said Athena, smiling. Chris looked amazed. 

"You caught the snitch that fast? That was only six or seven minutes!"

Athena beamed. It was almost time for classes to start again. 

"We gotta go, Chris," said Tiff, "It's almost time for classes to start." Athena was already gath0ering her stuff together. She threw her old broom in the broom shed and waited for Tiff.

"Hey Tiff?" said Chris, "If you want I can teach you to play quidditch. Come on out to the quidditch field after classes tomorrow. There'll be some other first years I'm teaching." Tiff smiled and wandered away, trying to catch up with Athena. The dungeons were dark and damp. Tiff was rather nervous walking down there alone. She was eying the torches when she slammed into someone. She immediately looked up** after falling to her knees. The person she had crashed into was a tall boy with red hair and deep green eyes. **

     "Hey," he said quietly, "Ya need help?" 

Tiff shook her head. "Thanks though," she mumbled, then wandered off to class. Professor Snape was a tall man with long, greasy black hair. He gave her a bit of a glare as she walked in, but nothing more. Based on Hestia's description of the man, Tiff joined Athena in the back. The cauldron she had bought in Diagon Alley was already there. She took a seat and stared glumly at the chalkboard. 

     "Hello," said Professor Snape coldly, "I am Professor Snape. I would like to say a little something before I begin. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach. That is all," Many of the Slytherins sniggered. Without a second glance at the glass he began writing the ingredients for a rather complicated potion on the board. Athena began right away. It seemed she was doing everything perfect. Tiff struggled through, and her potion turned out all right. Snape had to give her a good grade. He did assign an essay for the students who couldn't make the potion. Only one boy in Ravenclaw couldn't make it perfect and so he had to write an essay on what he did wrong.0 They left the class grinning. "We really showed that dunderhead, eh?" said Keety, who had also made a wonderful potion. They all nodded in agreement.

**      They found their way to the history of magic classroom. The teacher was a ghost, and a very dull one. He rambled on and on about the Goblin Wars in Hogsmede. Athena was the only one who looked truly interested in what he was saying. He did assign an essay though. The first day of classes was finally over!**

     Tiff, Athena, Keety, Phe and Aislin went up to the common room where loads of students were gathered. Keety and Athena challenged each other to a game of wizards' chess, which Tiff watched with great interest. Instead of moving the chess pieces with their arms, they instructed the pieces, who gave them advice. Athena wasn't too patient with her chess pieces and they seemed to hate her. She was defiantly too hyper for chess. Keety's pieces on the other hand respected her and gave her well thought out advice. 

     "What's your trick to making them like you?" demanded Athena after Keety had won. 

"It's easy," said Keety with a smile, "I talk to them in between games. They carry on some neat conversations," Athena snatched her chess pieces and ran to the library. "See ya around!" she yelled. "You want to play?" asked Keety. 

"I don't have any pieces," Tiff told her. 

"Borrow mine," said Phe, who had also been watching the game. Tiff smiled and went with Phe to get her chess pieces.   

     Phe's chess pieces were untrusting, making it almost impossible for her to win. She was excellent at muggle chess, but wizards' chess was different. She lost with only one pawn of Keety's.

          Phe played her next. That was when Tiff realized wizards' chess wasn't about skill! It was about trusting your pieces and having them trust you. When Phe was playing her pieces behaved pretty well. They didn't talk much to her, but at least they showed respect. After a bit more chess, they decided to start on their homework. Athena happily wrote her History of Magic essay, while the rest of them practice their wand movements.


End file.
